Read and think!

SINGAPOREANS have added
reason to resolve to adopt a healthy lifestyle, not just in the new year
but for the rest of their lives. Men and women here have the world's
second and fourth highest life expectancy, according to a multi-nation
disease and disability survey. But longevity does not always go hand in
hand with good health. Indeed, the additional years are more likely to
be dogged by ill health. A boy born here in 2010 will spend nearly 11 of
his 79 years coping with serious disability, the Global Burden of
Disease Study has projected. A girl will spend over 13 of her 83 years
in poor health.

However, Singaporeans
young and old can prove the forecast wrong by taking early steps to
prevent or delay the onset of disease as they age. This will amount to
not just one but a set of multiple resolutions - eat less food with high
salt, sugar and saturated fat and more fruit and vegetable; quit
smoking and excessive drinking; and exercise more frequently to keep
flab at bay. It need not be perceived as an act of penance for past
years of indulgence if one leverages family, workplace and social group
support to help make good habits stick.

Health should be better
managed than one's investment portfolio because a debilitating illness
can rob one of even the simple pleasures of life. Hence the need for
regular medical check-ups, as early treatment often offers a higher rate
of success than that for advanced-stage disease.

The young should invest
in their health by building bone density through exercise as early as
they can, as osteoporosis in later life can end in hip and other
fractures. And the old ought to acquire active ageing awareness well
before they begin to look and feel their age. These are all pursuits
that deserve to become national obsessions, given the profound impact of
prolonged poor health at different life stages.

With rising health costs
calling for higher state subsidies, there is an economic benefit when
individuals take charge of their own health. One aspect of healthy
living can have a salubrious effect on the social fabric too. This can
result when more give attention to their emotional and psychological
health by boosting ties within the family circle, network of friends and
wider community. Insurance statistics and research data elsewhere have
long confirmed the toxic impact of isolation. A 30-year survey of 972
Johns Hopkins medical students, for example, found loners were 16 times
more prone to cancer. Other studies have shown people living by
themselves have higher rates of suicide, alcoholism and mental illness.
The bottom line is that Singaporeans should cultivate a holistic sense
of well-being not because life is short, but because it is long.